Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Panama Papers Redux: Bermuda Law Firm Hacked

A major offshore law firm admitted it had been hacked on Tuesday,
prompting fears of a Panama Papers-style exposé into the tax affairs of
the super rich.

Bermuda-based Appleby only admitted it had suffered
the breach – which actually happened last year – after a group of
journos from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
(ICIJ), who had seen the leaked information, began asking awkward
questions.

In a statement,
Appleby denied allegations of any tax evasions or other wrongdoing by
itself or its clients while admitting that it was “not infallible”. The
law firm went on to state that it had shored up its security since the
hack.

We are committed to protecting our clients’ data and we have reviewed
our cyber security and data access arrangements following a data
security incident last year which involved some of our data being
compromised. These arrangements were reviewed and tested by a leading IT
Forensics team and we are confident that our data integrity is secure.

The Daily Telegraphreports
that the leak involved some of Britain’s wealthiest people, who were
said to be consulting lawyers and public relations executives in
preparations for possible fallout from the hack.

News of the breach of Appleby follows nearly 18
months after the release of the so-called Panama papers, which provoked
huge embarrassment (and worse) for wealthy figures in politics and
business as well as spawning a debate about the ethics of tax havens....MORE